HOW MANY MOBILE PHONES ARE SOLD EACH YEAR?

Mobile Phone Sales Statistics:

Find out how many mobile phones are sold each year, globally, and see phone sales statistics by country and brand.

2023 saw global mobile phone sales reaching 1822.3 million units sold, which means 22.8% of the global population (8 billion people) purchased a mobile phone in 2023.

Continue reading to see this data broken down by country and brand, along with the sources SellCell used to compile the data.

Mobile Phone Sales Statistics

Last updated January 24, 2024

Chart

Total Number of Mobile Phones Sold Worldwide by Year

First, we will look at the total number of mobile phones sold globally. This accounts for all mobile phone brands in all countries where sales data has been recorded. It also accounts for all mobile phones; so smartphones and non-smartphone/feature phones.

Flap
YEARSMARTPHONES
(Millions of units)
NON-SMARTPHONES / FEATURE PHONES
(Millions of units)
TOTAL MOBILE PHONES
(Millions of units)
2009172.38994.081166.46
2010296.651296.821593.47
20114721302.851774.85
2012680.111110.131790.24
2013969.72846.681816.4
20141219.3635.21854.5
20151314449.51763.5
20161442.7371.21813.9
20171479.1324.31803.4
20181522298.41820.4
20191532284.81816.8
20201397.4251.71649.1
20211510.3237.51747.8
20221516.4233.31749.7
20231594228.31822.3
2024*1625219.81844.8
2025*1638.6208.91847.5
2026*1652.1197.91850
2027*1676.1187.51863.6
2028*1679176.71855.7

[Graphical Data: Sources 1-3]

 

According to trend analyst Statista, there were a total of 1822.3 million mobile phones sold in 2023. This is an increase on the 2022 sales statistics, which shows that 1749.7 million mobile phones fell into the hands of new owners. However, the highest-selling year since 2009 was 2014, in which brands shipped 1854.5 million handsets worldwide.

In total, between 2009 and 2023, almost 26 billion mobile phones have been sold globally!

Smartphone

Total Number of Smartphones Sold Worldwide by Year

Next, we look at data just for smartphones (i.e. not including feature phones). This data includes all smartphone brands in all countries.

Flap
YEARSMARTPHONES
(Millions of units)
2009172.38
2010296.65
2011472
2012680.11
2013969.72
20141219.3
20151314
20161442.7
20171479.1
20181522
20191532
20201397.4
20211510.3
20221516.4
20231594
2024*1625
2025*1638.6
2026*1652.1
2027*1676.1
2028*1679

[Graphical Data: Source 1]

 

As the data shows, according to Statista, 2023 saw global smartphone sales reaching 1594 million units. SellCell projects that 2024 sales will exceed 2023, with sales anticipated to reach 1625 million.

The total number of smartphones sold between 2009 and 2023 stands at 17,118.1 million, and counting.

2023 Smartphone Sales

Q4 2021 Q1 2022 Q2 2022 Q3 2022 Q4 2022 Q1 2023 Q2 2023 Q3 2023 Q4 2023
(Preliminary)
Samsung 69.0 74.5 62.5 64.3 58.3 60.6 53.5 59.4 53.0
Apple 81.5 59.0 46.5 49.2 70.0 58.0 45.3 48.9 80.5
Xiaomi 45.0 39.0 39.5 40.5 33.2 30.5 33.2 41.5 40.7
OPPO 33.9 30.9 28.2 29.5 29.6 28.4 28.0 42.1 -
vivo 29.3 24.8 25.5 26.0 23.4 20.8 21.4 22.1 -
Others 112.7 98.1 92.3 92.4 89.4 81.9 86.6 85.8 151.9
Total Market 371.4 326.4 294.5 301.9 303.9 280.2 268.0 299.8 326.1

[Graphical Data: Source 10 & 11]

 

Global smartphone shipments have a declined in 2023. During Q1 2023, the total number of units shipped amounted to 280.2 million, whereas in Q1 2022, it reached 326.4 million. This represents a decrease in shipments by 46.2 million units or 14.2% quarter over quarter. Similarly, in Q2 2023, the total shipments amounted to 268.0 million units, compared to 294.5 million units in Q2 2022, resulting in a decline of 26.5 million units or 9.0% quarter over quarter. In Q3 2023, we see a significant recovery with total shipments amounted to 299.8 million units, compared with 301.9 million units in 2022. That's a decline of just 2.1 million units or 0.7% quarter over quarter. The IDC's preliminary data for Q4 2023 indicates that this recovery has continued and in fact we see significant growth compared to Q4 2022. In Q4 2023 the data shows total shipments of 326.1 million units, which compares to 303.9 million units for Q4 2022. That amounts to an increase of 22.2 million units or 7.3%. If you compare 2023 with 2022, even with the significant recovery the preliminary data for Q4 2023 indicates, shipments have declined by 52.6 million units or 4.3% year over year.

Non-Smartphone / Feature Phone

Total Number of Non-Smartphone / Feature Phones Sold Worldwide by Year

If we now look at data only for non-smartphone/feature phones (i.e. not including smartphones), we can see the impact that increasing smartphone popularity had on the feature phone market.

Flap
YEARNON-SMARTPHONES / FEATURE PHONES
(Millions of units)
2009994.08
20101296.82
20111302.85
20121110.13
2013846.68
2014635.2
2015449.5
2016371.2
2017324.3
2018298.4
2019284.8
2020251.7
2021237.5
2022233.3
2023228.3
2024*219.8
2025*208.9
2026*197.9
2027*187.5
2028*176.7

[Graphical Data: Sources 2-3]

 

2023 saw feature phone sales decline to a record low, with sales only reaching 228.3 million. While this might still seem a lot, it is nothing like the 1302.8 million feature phones sold in 2011. Since then, feature phone purchases have steadily decreased which the popularity of the smartphone has taken hold.

Between 2009-2023, non-smartphone/feature phone sales have reached 8864.8 million in total.

Globally

Total Number of Mobile Phones Sold Each Year by Country

Breaking the data down by country, we can see exactly how many smartphones sold in 2022, and where. We can also see historical sales data, by country, dating back to 2009. Data has been compiled from a variety of sources.

Flap
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China397.5
India272.1
United States143.3
Indonesia66.1
Russia52.5
Brazil46.4
Mexico31.9
Japan31.3
United Kingdom31.2
Turkey30.6
Philippines24.7
Germany24.1
France23.7
Vietnam23.0
Italy21.7
South Korea20.0
Thailand15.4
Canada14.4
Spain11.1
Australia8.9
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China408.3
India265.7
United States143.8
Indonesia66.2
Russia45.9
Brazil47.3
Mexico31.9
Japan31.9
United Kingdom31.0
Turkey30.2
Philippines25.0
Germany24.0
France23.6
Vietnam23.1
Italy22.0
South Korea20.3
Thailand15.8
Canada14.3
Spain11.0
Australia8.8
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China415.9
India259.1
United States144.1
Indonesia66.3
Russia36.7
Brazil48.3
Mexico32.1
Japan32.7
United Kingdom30.8
Turkey29.6
Philippines25.3
Germany24.0
France23.5
Vietnam23.2
Italy22.1
South Korea20.4
Thailand16.2
Canada14.2
Spain11.1
Australia8.8
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China423.5
India252.4
United States144.3
Indonesia66.5
Russia36.6
Brazil49.2
Mexico32.2
Japan33.3
United Kingdom30.6
Turkey29.1
Philippines25.6
Germany23.8
France23.4
Vietnam23.4
Italy22.4
South Korea20.5
Thailand16.5
Canada14.1
Spain11.1
Australia8.8
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China431.0
India245.7
United States144.7
Indonesia66.6
Russia36.5
Brazil50.1
Mexico32.3
Japan33.9
United Kingdom30.5
Turkey28.6
Philippines25.9
Germany23.8
France23.2
Vietnam23.5
Italy22.6
South Korea20.7
Thailand16.9
Canada14.1
Spain11.0
Australia8.7
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China433.7
India236.3
United States143.6
Indonesia66.1
Russia36.0
Brazil50.8
Mexico31.9
Japan34.1
United Kingdom29.9
Turkey27.8
Philippines26.0
Germany23.4
France22.9
Vietnam23.4
Italy22.5
South Korea20.5
Thailand17.0
Canada13.8
Spain10.8
Australia8.5
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China426.2
India222.4
United States138.1
Indonesia64.3
Russia30.9
Brazil50.5
Mexico30.9
Japan33.2
United Kingdom28.6
Turkey25.3
Philippines25.5
Germany22.6
France21.9
Vietnam22.9
Italy21.9
South Korea19.9
Thailand17.0
Canada13.2
Spain10.5
Australia8.0
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China436.9
India209.0
United States136.8
Indonesia63.9
Russia43.1
Brazil50.9
Mexico30.0
Japan32.9
United Kingdom27.5
Turkey25.2
Philippines25.9
Germany21.9
France21.1
Vietnam23.1
Italy21.5
South Korea19.3
Thailand17.4
Canada12.9
Spain10.2
Australia7.8
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China417.2
India194.0
United States129.5
Indonesia59.7
Russia40.6
Brazil50.2
Mexico28.0
Japan30.0
United Kingdom25.4
Turkey23.1
Philippines24.9
Germany20.3
France19.6
Vietnam22.2
Italy20.1
South Korea17.9
Thailand17.0
Canada12.1
Spain9.5
Australia7.1
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China462.3
India215.1
United States147.0
Indonesia64.6
Russia45.8
Brazil55.2
Mexico32.0
Japan35.2
United Kingdom29.7
Turkey26.8
Philippines27.9
Germany23.6
France22.8
Vietnam25.2
Italy23.8
South Korea21.5
Thailand18.9
Canada13.6
Spain11.0
Australia8.7
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China476.3
India207.3
United States148.2
Indonesia67.1
Russia45.9
Brazil56.2
Mexico32.0
Japan37.4
United Kingdom29.6
Turkey27.1
Philippines29.3
Germany24.7
France22.7
Vietnam24.5
Italy23.9
South Korea21.6
Thailand20.0
Canada13.6
Spain11.0
Australia8.9
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China502.5
India199.6
United States142.4
Indonesia63.0
Russia45.0
Brazil55.3
Mexico30.9
Japan36.4
United Kingdom29.6
Turkey26.3
Philippines30.1
Germany25.1
France22.9
Vietnam24.5
Italy24.1
South Korea21.9
Thailand20.7
Canada13.5
Spain11.0
Australia9.1
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China533.4
India192.6
United States153.7
Indonesia63.3
Russia42.8
Brazil52.5
Mexico30.4
Japan33.4
United Kingdom29.8
Turkey25.2
Philippines30.6
Germany25.9
France22.8
Vietnam23.3
Italy24.7
South Korea21.7
Thailand21.1
Canada13.4
Spain11.7
Australia9.5
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China510.3
India200.2
United States154.5
Indonesia57.3
Russia41.3
Brazil50.8
Mexico29.5
Japan33.9
United Kingdom29.9
Turkey25.0
Philippines29.1
Germany28.9
France23.4
Vietnam21.6
Italy25.5
South Korea21.6
Thailand20.3
Canada13.3
Spain12.6
Australia9.9
COUNTRYSALES
(Millions of units)
China537.5
India214.7
United States160.0
Indonesia55.6
Russia39.7
Brazil60.0
Mexico32.1
Japan36.0
United Kingdom30.6
Turkey25.1
Philippines28.4
Germany30.1
France25.3
Vietnam21.2
Italy25.2
South Korea21.7
Thailand20.1
Canada14.1
Spain13.9
Australia10.0

[Graphical Data: Sources 1-2]

 

2023 sales data shows that China is the largest market when it comes to smartphone sales. An astounding 433.7 million of all mobile phones sold in 2023 ended up in the hands of Chinese consumers.

India follows with 236.3 million, and if you're wondering how many phones sold in the US in 2023, the answer is 143.6 million, making the US the third-largest territory for phone brands.

These trends continue historically, with China buying 426.2 and 436.9 million phones in 2022 and 2021 respectively.

The 2023 figure shows sales reaching 29.9 million for the UK, an increase in UK phone sales compared to 2022, when brands sold 28.6 million phones.

iPhone

How Many iPhones Does Apple Sell Each Year?

Of course, there are a lot of smartphone brands out there, but Apple's iPhone is the handset that retained the most post-sale value in 2023. Let's look at the data and see how many iPhones sold in 2023, and historically since 2007.

Flap
YEARSALES
(Millions of units)
2023*234.6
2022226.4
2021242
2020196.9
2019187.2
2018217.72
2017216.76
2016211.88
2015231.22
2014169.22
2013150.26
2012125.05
201172.29
201039.99
200920.73
200811.63
20071.39

[Graphical Data: Sources 4, 5, 7 & 11]

 

The data analysis above tells us that the number of iPhones sold in 2023 amounted to 234.6 million. 2021 saw sales of 242 million marking a record-breaking year for the smartphone giant, while the previous highest-selling year for Apple was 2015, with 231.2 million iPhones leaving the shelves.

This brings the total number of iPhones sold between 2007 and 2023 to 2.6 billion!

Manufacturing

Total Number of Smartphones Sold Each Year by Manufacturer

To give a good picture of how many smartphones sold during 2023, and since 2007, we need to break it down into brands. Here, SellCell has taken global sales data for all smartphone manufacturers.

Flap
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Apple234.6
Samsung226.6
Xiaomi145.9
OPPO103.1
Transsion94.9
Others361.8
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung260.9
Apple226.4
Xiaomi153.1
OPPO103.3
vivo99.0
Others362.7
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung272
Apple235.7
Xiaomi191
OPPO133.5
vivo128.3
Others394.3
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung266.7
Apple206.1
Huawei189
Xiaomi147.8
vivo111.7
OPPO111.2
Others371
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung295.7
Huawei240.6
Apple191
Xiaomi125.6
OPPO114.3
Others403.6
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung292.3
Apple208.8
Huawei206
Xiaomi122.6
OPPO113.1
Others462
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung317.7
Apple215.8
Huawei154.2
OPPO111.7
Xiaomi92.7
Others573.4
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung311.4
Apple215.4
Huawei139.3
OPPO99.8
vivo77.3
Others577.2
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung320.9
Apple231.5
Huawei107
Lenovo74
Xiaomi70.8
OPPO42.7
vivo38
Others552.3
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung318.2
Apple197.2
Huawei73.8
Lenovo59.4
LG59.2
Xiaomi57.7
Others540.7
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung316.4
Apple153.4
Huawei49
LG47.8
Lenovo45.5
Others407.4
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung219.7
Apple135.9
Nokia35.1
HTC32.6
RIM32.5
Huawei29.1
LG26.3
Lenovo23.7
Others190.4
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Samsung94.2
Apple93.1
Nokia77.3
RIM51.1
HTC43.6
Others135.3
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Nokia100.1
RIM48.8
Apple47.5
Samsung22.9
HTC21.7
Others63.7
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Nokia67.7
RIM34.5
Apple25.1
HTC8.1
Samsung5.5
Others32.6
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Nokia60.5
RIM23.6
Apple13.8
HTC7.5
Samsung5.4
Others40.6
MANUFACTURERSHIPMENTS
(Millions of units)
Nokia60.47
RIM11.77
HTC3.72
Apple3.3
Others43.1

[Graphical Data: Source 6-7 & 11]

 

As you can see from the Statista / IDC data above, Apple sold the most handsets in 2023, moving 234.6 million iPhones and outselling Samsung who follow a close second with 226.6 million units. This is significant as it represents the first time Apple have outsold Samsung in over 10 years.

Xiaomi follows up in third position, selling 45.9 million handsets in 2023; the most aside from Apple and Samsung, making Xiaomi a real contender for the big two.

Looking back historically, we can see that RIM (now known as BlackBerry) and Nokia dominated the phone market back in 2007. However, the advent of the smartphone saw the demise of Nokia and BlackBerry's efforts, and both brands started falling from popularity in 2008, as Apple's notoriety grew.

By 2011, Apple's sales had increased by almost 30 times their 2007 sales figure of 3.3 million, with the brand selling 93.1 million phones in 2011.

Samsung's sales have remained strong, and the brand has taken the leading position sales-wise for over ten years until Apple marginally outsold them in 2023. In 2023 Samsung sold 226.6 million smartphones.

Smartphone

How Many Phones Are Made in a Day?

4.53 million cell phones are made a day in China

To answer this question we've looked at how many phones are manufactured in China. Statista gave us the number of cell phones made between May 2019 and November 2022 month on month. From this you can calculate how many are made on average each day. We've simply taken the monthly figure and divided it by the number of days in that month.

Flap
MONTHMADE PER MONTH
(Millions of units)
MADE PER DAY
(Millions of units)
May 2019146.034.71
Jun 2019151.265.04
Jul 2019140.414.53
Aug 2019145.234.68
Sep 2019169.695.66
Oct 2019160.965.19
Nov 2019180.916.03
Dec 2019175.295.65
*Jan/Feb 2020138.772.35
Mar 2020118.043.81
Apr 2020108.643.62
May 2020110.823.57
Jun 2020129.904.33
Jul 2020122.263.94
Aug 2020131.204.23
Sep 2020148.774.96
Oct 2020131.014.23
Nov 2020149.664.99
Dec 2020164.965.32
*Jan/Feb 2021208.593.54
Mar 2021137.234.43
Apr 2021127.544.25
May 2021132.354.27
Jun 2021143.224.77
Jul 2021126.924.09
Aug 2021133.164.30
Sep 2021151.655.06
Oct 2021138.674.47
Nov 2021160.235.34
Dec 2021174.615.63
*Jan/Feb 2022212.713.61
Mar 2022143.844.64
Apr 2022126.934.23
May 2022126.674.09
Jun 2022136.124.54
Jul 2022120.503.89
Aug 2022127.724.12
Sep 2022155.845.19
Oct 2022154.144.97
Nov 2022141.704.72

[Graphical Data: Source 8]

 

So what does the data tell us? Well on average 4.53 million cell phones are made per day in China. The highest number of cell phones made per day was 6.03 million in November 2019. The lowest number was 2.35 million cell phones per day in January/February 2020. This figure will have been heavily impacted by the Chinese New Year and the pandemic. Outside of this, the lowest number was 3.57 million cell phones per day in May 2020.

Smartphone

How Many Cell Phones Are Sold Per Day in The World?

4.99 million cell phones are sold per day in the world

We've taken the total number of mobile phones (smartphones and feature phones) sold each year and worked out the average number of mobile phones sold per month (divided by 12) and per day (divided by 365).

Flap
YEARSOLD PER YEAR
(Millions of units)
SOLD PER MONTH
(Millions of units)
SOLD PER DAY
(Millions of units)
20091166.4697.213.20
20101593.47132.794.37
20111774.85147.904.86
20121790.24149.194.90
20131816.4151.374.98
20141854.5154.545.08
20151763.5146.964.83
20161813.9151.164.97
20171803.4150.284.94
20181820.4151.704.99
20191816.8151.404.98
20201649.1137.434.52
20211747.8145.654.79
20221749.7145.814.79
20231822.3151.864.99
2024*1844.8153.735.05
2025*1847.5153.965.06
2026*1850154.175.07
2027*1863.6155.305.11
2028*1855.7154.645.08

[Graphical Data: Sources 1-3]

 

Looking at the years where we have actual data as opposed to forecasted (2009 - 2023) the average number of mobile phones sold per day is 4.75 million units. In 2023 there were on average 4.99 million mobile phones sold per day. The year with the highest daily average was 2014 (5.08 million units). We project that by 2027 the daily average will reach 5.11 million.

Smartphone

How Many iPhones Are Made in a Day?

500,000 iPhones are made a day
350 iPhones are made per minute

We've taken a look at the manufacturing of iPhones in Foxconn's manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou to get an idea of just how many iPhones are manufactured each day.

Flap

 

Answering the question of how many iPhones are made in a day is more difficult than you might expect. Firstly you need to understand that Apple buys many of the components that go into iPhones from more than 200 approved suppliers around the world. Apple then sells these components to one of its contracted manufacturers. In China, this means Foxconn which is actually a Taiwanese company that runs the Zhengzhou facility.

Foxconn's manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou is colossal covering 2.2 square miles and employing 350,000 workers. What they do here is known as final assembly, testing and packaging (F.A.T.P.). The facility can produce a staggering 500,000 iPhones a day, which equates to roughly 350 iPhones per minute!

[Data: Source 8]

 

Google

How Many Google Pixel Have Been Sold?

40 million Google Pixel sold since 2016

We've had a look at how many Google Pixel phones have been sold and which generation of Google Pixel was the most successful / most unsuccessful in terms of sales.

Flap

 

Google have sold over 40 million Google Pixel since 2016. That is the combined figure for the first 7 generations of Google Pixel. Put another way, that number represents 17% of Apples 2023 sales and at that rate it would take Google almost 6 years to sell as many phones as Apple did in a single year!

Over the last 12 months Google has sold around 10 million phones making the Pixel 7, 7 Pro and 7a the most successful generation of Google Pixel so far. Prior to this, it was the Google Pixel 3 which sold roughly 9 million units.

With sales of just 2 million units the Google Pixel 5 was the most unsuccessful generation of Google Pixel.

[Data: Source 9 & 12]

 

Infographic of above data - click below

Infographic

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